Egypt prison authorities held body of detainee 'who died under torture' for six years: report

Egypt's prison authorities held the body of a prisoner for nearly six years without informing his family that he died of a heart attack while under torture, a rights watchdog has revealed.

The Egyptian Network for Human Rights (ENHR) said on Wednesday that the body of Mohamed Jumaa Youssef Afifi, 52, died inside the National Security headquarters in Cairo after he was detained on 17 December 2015.

By 13 January 2016, Afifi died of a heart attack after being tortured and subjected to verbal abuse while he was in custody. 

Prison guards and national security members took his body away after witnesses informed them of his death. However, they later denied that Afifi had died of his heart attack and claimed that he was alive and doing okay, the ENHR said.

Afifi's family was not informed of his death, or even the incident, despite a number of lawsuits filed to reveal his whereabouts. All that has been confirmed so far is that Afifi is dead.

"The ENHR demands the Attorney General to open an urgent investigation into the detainee's death, how this happened without informing his relatives, and work to stop these criminal practices that could be repeated rightfully by other detainees in the absence of censorship and accountability," the ENHR said in a statement.